In the light of the ‘migration crisis’ unfolding in the Mediterranean and a global increase in migratory and refugee movements states face ever more electoral and public pressure to effectively guard their borders and enforce migration control. This poses highly pertinent questions about the capacity of states and bureaucracies to develop and execute policies that regulate exclusion in a given society or a territory.

The literature on migration control largely focuses on the policy level rather than implementation. It discusses a ‘liberal paradox’, the observation that migration policies regardless of a broader public’s preference for restrictions have become expansive and inclusive. However, for understanding contemporary migration policy it also needs to be assessed how liberal states face and implement control within the constraints of human rights norms, open markets, international relations, and limited state resources. The panel attempts to address the ‘control gap’ in migration policy research by studying the factors that determine the ability of western states to control migration in three core issue areas:

• The capacity of the liberal states to prevent entry before the border
• The capacity of the liberal state to enforce control at borders
• The capacity of the liberal state to enforce return 

The symposium aims at exploring control in migration policy enforcement in European and other liberal states. Research with a qualitative and quantitative angle will be presented at the symposium.